The present invention relates to an information processing system and method, an information processing apparatus and method, and a program, and more particularly to an information processing system and method, an information processing apparatus and method, and a program which are capable of transmitting a user profile confidentially to a server with a simple operation.
Recently, there have emerged servers for acquiring user profiles from user terminals via communications and performing various processing sequences, e.g., recommending information matching the preferences of users, using the acquired user profiles.
User profiles transmitted to such servers are private information of the users, and need to be protected in some ways. Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-109371 discloses a process for providing a scheme for protecting a user profile and allowing the user to select private information that can be given away to a server.
However, the disclosed process for protecting a user profile requires the user to perform a tedious and time-consuming procedure for making settings or registering user's information for particular services each time user's information is to be protected.
A process that does not require the user to use such particular services, but performs a corresponding function at the sender is provided in Japanese patent application No. 2002-095414. However, even if this process is employed, the user still needs to make settings by themselves. Therefore, the disclosed process fails to fully solve the above problems.